OK, so when I packed to come out here I also moved out of where I was staying in London. As such all items were divided into one of four (ok, four official, six unofficial) categories:
1. Needed on arrival in Hong Kong - to go in my luggage
2. Needed at some point in Hong Kong - to go in the box being sent by the office
3. Not needed in HK but probably needed pretty sharpish when I get back - to go to mum's
4. Not needed in the longer term - to go to storage
(5. Items I forgot to take to storage or mum's and as such distributed round friends in London in a panic, Thanks!)
(6. Items that I forgot to pack elsewhere so they had to come to Hong Kong with me, oops).
Now, other than needing a few items to be allocated to 5. and 6. (bike, wine, random assortment of candles and stationery) I thought I had done pretty well on the packing front. Hmm, so far, I'd say not so well. These are the following lessons I have learned to date:
1. Putting all dvds and books along with my only day bag in a box from the office was folly. Said items most likely to be needed when battling jet-lag, not when I have a full scale social life (fingers crossed I gain a full-scale social life, initial indications are good).
2. It is sweltering here. Two pairs of jeans and one summer dress? You really have to question that decision.
3. No sun tan lotion. Now, I can't actually see "sun" the "mist" (I will have to start calling it pollution soon) is too think, however, in this heat there has to be an argument that at somepoint it will be needed.
4. No plasters. New shoes, need I say more.
5. No peanut butter. Ok so they sell it here, but not the crunchy, can almost pretend it is good for you, one I am addicted to (yes, there was a reason I did not pack it but that does not mean I don't miss it).
6. More gym-wear that I would ever use in the UK (have I mentioned it's a bit warm here).
7. Continuing the gym theme I have two pairs of trainers and one pair of flip flops. What was I thinking??
8. I do not have the cable to connect my i-pod to my computer.
9. I have a beautiful, smart, warm winter jacket and no summer mac.
And there was me priding myself on my organisation.
I have my fingers crossed that the "office box" wings its way to me soon (along with all my bank stuff for here which is also somewhere in the ether). However, it takes two weeks for an airmail letter to reach here (yes you did read that correctly) so I have no idea how long a food / book / dvd parcel will take to arrive!
Would that be a shopping theme so far?
I promise more cultural updates later. There has been talk of trips to the Peak and to the Happy Valley Races. Hurrah!
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Clearly you have only three options: shop, go shopping and buy stuff.
ReplyDeleteI would send you crunchy peanut butter (of the approved healthy variety) but suspect it will arrive after you get back to London (and even then would be in some gooey kit form like state that demands testing at security)...
Now you understand why Michael O'Leary was not being Mr Nasty when he originally suggested that Ryanair passengers did not need anything more than hand luggage. Buy the other stuff when you get there, he said, it'll probably be cheaper - and leaving it behind when you come home will definitely be cheaper than what we will charge you for putting it into the hold of one of our planes.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy choosing the summer dresses.